These things occurred on Saturday August 3, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland
Shabbat morning we woke up early enough to get some much needed breakfast from the hotel buffet. Thankfully, they had plenty of cereal and milk for us to eat. After breakfast we let the boys rest for a little longer since they had had a very late and hard night the previous evening. After checking the directions on our post-it note, and grabbing a phone as a safety backup because of important lessons learned, we ventured out with the goal of making it to the Dublin Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. We took a different path this time and were able to walk the whole way in a much more comfortable feeling area. It also helped that it was daytime. We made it to shul in just under an hour only to find out that we arrived just in time for kiddush (usually a smallish brunch often served after services before congregants go home to their Shabbat meals).
The boys ran inside to grab food and came out with mostly pastries and cookies. After filling their bellies, they spotted some boys playing soccer in the yard. With a little help from me, they began playing with the other kids. It had been a week since they had played with other children. They were giddy with excitement. Local congregants were lovely and kind, and a bit shocked to hear how far we had walked and where we had walked. Everyone wondered why we hadn’t stayed closer. The truth is that I could not find anything affordable in the area, and we had hoped we would get to explore free Dublin on Shabbat afternoon.
As the boys played soccer and Chaim schmoozed, I went inside the sanctuary to look around. It is beautiful with high ceilings and lovely stained glass. Common among Orthodox synagogues, the women’s section is on the second floor and overlooks the men’s section. I saw a siddur/prayer book and decided to daven/pray. Only then did I realize how relieved I felt to be among my people after the night we just had. Overcome with emotion, my eyes teared up and I had to stop myself from full on sobbing. Pulling myself together to avoid questions from the children playing in the men’s section below, I finished praying and found Chaim.
We found our lunch hosts, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Lent from Chabad, who walked us and their other lunch guests back to their house. As happens at Chabad meals, we met amazing people from around the world, each with their own inspirational story. The food was delicious and plentiful and the atmosphere warm and inviting. Lunch didn’t end until close to 5:00PM! Our boys were in heaven. Reading books from their library, playing soccer and sliding downstairs on mattresses with new friends. It was perfect. And, they finally had meat to eat!
We arrived back at our hotel around 7:00PM. The boys spent the rest of their time playing their travel games and just hanging out. Although we never got to explore the central part of Dublin as we had hoped, Shabbat day turned out to be exactly what we needed.
